Perceptions of Community Corrections and Treatment Experience: A Qualitative Study Among People With Incarceration Histories Receiving Outpatient Methadone Treatment.

Background: Community correctional experiences among individuals receiving methadone treatment (MT) for opioid use disorder (OUD) are poorly understood. We qualitatively investigated perceptions of community corrections and treatment experiences among individuals with criminal-legal system experience currently receiving outpatient MT.

Methods: From January to December 2017, we recruited 42 individuals with history of criminal-legal system involvement enrolled in outpatient MT at a low-barrier nonprofit organization operating multiple clinics in Connecticut.

Correlates of Perceived Discrimination Related to Substance Use Disorders Among Patients in Methadone Maintenance Treatment.

This study sought to examine demographic, treatment-related, and diagnosis-related correlates of substance use disorder (SUD)-related perceived discrimination among patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). Participants were 164 patients at nonprofit, low-barrier-to-treatment-access MMT programs. Participants completed measures of demographics, diagnosis-related characteristics (Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) and Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ)), and treatment-related characteristics.

The impact of body image dissatisfaction on psychological distress and health-related quality of life among patients in methadone treatment.

Background And Objectives: Minimal research has examined body image dissatisfaction (BID) among patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). We tested associations between BID and MMT quality indicators (psychological distress, mental and physical health-related quality of life [HRQoL]) and whether these associations varied by gender.

Methods: One hundred and sixty-four participants (n = 164) in MMT completed self-report measures of body mass index (BMI), BID, and MMT quality indicators.

"Just fighting for my life to stay alive": a qualitative investigation of barriers and facilitators to community re-entry among people with opioid use disorder and incarceration histories.

Background: During the period of community re-entry immediately following release from jail or prison, individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) face structural barriers to successful re-entry and high risk of overdose. Few published studies investigate experiences in the immediate period (i.e.

COVID-19 Vaccination Concerns and Reasons for Acceptance Among US Health Care Personnel.

Objectives: Because health care personnel (HCP) are potentially at increased risk of contracting COVID-19, high vaccination rates in this population are essential. The objective of this study was to assess vaccination status, barriers to vaccination, reasons for vaccine acceptance, and concerns about COVID-19 vaccination among HCP.

Methods: We conducted an anonymous online survey at a large US health care system from April 9 through May 4, 2021, to assess COVID-19 vaccination status and endorsement of reasons for acceptance and concerns related to vaccination (based on selections from a provided list).

A Student Walks into Class … Vignettes to Identify Substance Use Disorder Models of Illness among College Students.

Introduction: Illness models, including illness recognition, perceived severity, and perceived nature can affect treatment-seeking behaviors. Vignettes are a leading approach to examine models of illness but are understudied for substance use disorders (SUDs). We created vignettes for multiple common DSM-5 SUDs and assessed SUD illness models among college students.

A qualitative investigation of addiction counselors' perceptions and experiences implementing an open-access model for treating opioid use disorder.

Objective: To examine addiction counselors' perceptions and experiences of implementing an open-access model for methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), in which the program rapidly enrolled prospective patients, irrespective of ability to pay, and provided real-time access to multiple voluntary treatment options. Between 2006, when the treatment program initially implemented this model, and 2020, the census of clients receiving methadone maintenance at the study site grew from 1431 to 4500.

Methods: Participants were 31 addiction counselors employed at a treatment organization that implemented an open-access model to scale up MMT.

Correlates of Homelessness Among Patients in Methadone Maintenance Treatment.

Background: Although homelessness and opioid use disorder (OUD) are important public health issues, few studies have examined their cooccurrence.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlates of homelessness among patients enrolled in low-barrier-to-treatment-access methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programs for OUD.

Methods: Demographic, diagnosis-related, and treatment-related correlates were assessed by self-report for 164 patients in MMT.

Correlates of sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness in people with opioid use disorder receiving methadone treatment.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and clinical correlates of impaired sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness among patients receiving methadone for opioid use disorder (OUD).

Methods: Patients receiving methadone (n = 164) completed surveys assessing sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]), daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS]), and related comorbidities. We used bivariate and multivariable linear regression models to evaluate correlates of sleep quality and daytime sleepiness.

"Day-to-day, it's a roller coaster. It's frustrating. It's rewarding. It's maddening and it's enjoyable": A qualitative investigation of the lived experiences of addiction counselors.

Psychologists in medication for addiction treatment (MAT) settings routinely oversee the work of addiction counselors as supervisors, administrators, and human resource specialists. Limited research has explored the lived experiences of counselors who work in programs that have scaled-up MAT in response to the opioid crisis in the U.S.

Effectiveness of medication assisted treatment for opioid use in prison and jail settings: A meta-analysis and systematic review.

This study examined the state of the literature on the effectiveness of medication assisted treatment (MAT; methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone) delivered in prisons and jails on community substance use treatment engagement, opioid use, recidivism, and health risk behaviors following release from incarceration. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental studies published through December 2017 that examined induction to or maintenance on methadone (n = 18 studies), buprenorphine (n = 3 studies), or naltrexone (n = 3 studies) in correctional settings were identified from PsycINFO and PubMed databases. There were a sufficient number of methadone RCTs to meta-analyze; there were too few buprenorphine or naltrexone studies.

Psychiatric Disorders and Crime in the US Population: Results From the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions Wave III.

Objective: Current knowledge regarding the intersection of psychiatric disorders and crime in the United States is limited to psychiatric, forensic, and youth samples. This study presents nationally representative data on the relationship of DSM-5 psychiatric disorders, comorbid substance and mental health disorders, and multimorbidity (number of disorders) with criminal behavior and justice involvement among non-institutionalized US adults.

Methods: Data were drawn from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions Wave III (NESARC-III; 2012-2013; N = 36,309).

Problematic Prescription Opioid Use in a Chronic Pain Treatment Facility: The Role of Emotional Processes.

Background: Factors associated with prescription opioid misuse in a chronic pain treatment population are limited, and increasing our understanding of associated factors could lead to improved targeting of prevention and intervention efforts.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate factors associated with problematic prescription opioid use in patients with chronic pain, and whether assessing emotional processes - alexithymia, ambivalence over emotional expression (AEQ), and emotional approach coping - improves understanding of problematic prescription opioid use beyond traditional risk factors.

Methods: Participants were 100 patients with chronic pain (mean age = 47.

Developing a laboratory model of smoking lapse targeting stress and brief nicotine deprivation.

Stress plays a significant role in the maintenance of, and relapse to, smoking. The current study aims to develop a human laboratory model examining stress-precipitated tobacco lapse following brief nicotine deprivation. Daily smokers (N = 48; 50% female) who were nicotine deprived for 3 hr received a personalized imagery induction (stress or neutral, within-subject, counterbalanced) on 2 separate days.

Childhood adversity interacts with adult stressful events to predict reduced likelihood of smoking cessation among women but not men.

Research has documented important sex differences in associations between early stress, stress-sensitization, and psychiatric outcomes. The current study investigated whether sex differences in stress-sensitization extended to cigarette smoking cessation. Data were analyzed from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (waves 1 and 2), selecting for current daily and non-daily smokers at wave 1 (daily smokers: =3,499 women, 3055 men; non-daily smokers: =451 women, 501 men).

Association of Cigarette Smoking With Interpersonal and Self-Directed Violence in a Large Community-Based Sample.

Introduction: Substance use is a major risk factor for various forms of violence, yet how cigarette smoking influences violence outcomes is incompletely understood. We investigated associations between cigarette smoking and three types of violence in a large, nationally representative, community-based sample.

Methods: Adult subjects participating in both Wave 1 (2001-2002; N = 43 093) and Wave 2 (2004-2005; N = 34 653) of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) were stratified by daily cigarette smoking status at Wave 1, and individuals with unchanged smoking status between waves were analyzed (nonsmokers [consisting of never and former daily smokers]: N = 22 529; daily smokers: N = 7442).

Impact of Exposure to Childhood Maltreatment on Transitions to Alcohol Dependence in Women and Men.

Background: Childhood maltreatment decreases age of first use and speeds the transition from first use to dependence (i.e., telescoping) for alcohol use, however, it is currently unknown whether this influence is the same for men and women.

Substance Use Disorders and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration among Male and Female Offenders.

Objective: The current investigation sought to examine the direct associations and interactions among individual and concurrent alcohol, cocaine, cannabis, and opioid use diagnoses with the perpetration of intimate partner violence as well as to assess gender differences across these associations within a large forensic sample of male and female offenders.

Method: Participants (1,290 male and 294 female) completed a court-mandated substance abuse evaluation during which they completed a clinical interview, either endorsing or denying recent physical partner violence perpetration. Specific substance use disorders were diagnosed based primarily upon responses to the clinical interview and were used to predict partner violence perpetration using logistic regression.

Computer-based written emotional disclosure: the effects of advance or real-time guidance and moderation by Big 5 personality traits.

Standard written emotional disclosure (WED) about stress, which is private and unguided, yields small health benefits. The effect of providing individualized guidance to writers may enhance WED, but has not been tested. This trial of computer-based WED compared two novel therapist-guided forms of WED - advance guidance (before sessions) and real-time guidance (during sessions, through instant messaging) - to both standard WED and control writing; it also tested Big 5 personality traits as moderators of guided WED.

Treatment of co-occurring alcohol dependence and perpetration of intimate partner violence: the role of anger expression.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the role of high self-reported anger on violence and substance use across treatment. Seventy-three, alcohol-dependent males, with a domestic violence arrest within the past year, completed baseline anger measures and engaged in a 12 week cognitive behavioral therapy or 12 step facilitation group. Monthly assessments of substance use and violence were completed.

Relationship status acceptance, alcohol use, and the perpetration of verbal aggression among males mandated to treatment for intimate partner violence.

Forty substance using, male offenders of intimate partner violence completed measures of alcohol use and relationship status acceptance during a pretreatment screening session. They also completed a measure of verbal aggression after each month of a 12-week intervention program. Treatment length, heavy episodic drinking, and relationship status acceptance were used to assess the frequency of verbal aggression at each of the four assessment periods in a repeated measures ANCOVA.

Sub-Clinical Trauma in the Treatment of Partner Violent Offenders with Substance Dependence.

Purpose: With an established association between PTSD and the perpetration of intimate partner violence, evaluating the effectiveness of emerging integrated treatments for dual substance use and partner violent behavior on individuals with a significant trauma history may serve to improve treatment outcomes for clients with axis I psychopathology. This paper examined the association between sub-clinical trauma, treatment compliance, and recidivism in a sample of male, substance dependent intimate partner violence offenders.

Design/methodology/approach: The described investigation utilized violence perpetration, substance use, and trauma data collected during a larger, randomized control treatment evaluation study.

Psychotropic drug use among college students: patterns of use, misuse, and medical monitoring.

Objective: To assess whether college students who use psychotropic drugs are (1) aware of potential side effects, (2) appropriately monitored by prescribing physicians, and (3) taking medications as prescribed.

Participants: Fifty-five college students, currently taking psychotropic medications, were recruited between Summer 2008 and Fall 2009.

Methods: Participants were given interviews assessing (1) interactions with prescribing physicians, (2) patterns of psychotropic drug use, and (3) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) substance use disorders.